Steerpike

With a key vote on Heathrow’s third runway due later today, the bulldozers ominously loom whilst the Foreign Secretary is missing in action. The once anti-Heathrow Boris Johnson will helpfully miss today's vote though the exact whereabouts of Johnson remain unknown – with the Prime Minister saying last Thursday that '[he] will be what I would describe as the living embodiment of global Britain'. Alas not all of Johnson's colleagues seem so impressed. Robert Halfon hypothesised on Daily Politics that he might be in India or China 'to buy a cheaper bulldozer’ than the one he previously threatened to lie down in front of should Heathrow expansion occur. Meanwhile, Greg Hands continues to make life more difficult for Johnson.

Despite the good weather and England's good World Cup result, it hasn't been a relaxing weekend for all. Step forward Gavin Williamson. The ambitious defence secretary has found himself in the line of fire, with the Mail on Sunday splashing on reports that he has threatened to topple the prime minister unless defence spending is increased by £20bn. Given that Theresa May doesn't yet have a firm plan in place to fund her £20bn NHS pledge, it's hard to see her signing up to this anytime soon. Allies of Williamson – known as Private Pike in the Treasury – have moved to deny the reports. However, regardless, the incident has not gone down particularly well with Williamson's colleagues.

When Love Island contestant Hayley Hughes used a conversation about Brexit to ask whether there would still be trees after Britain leaves the EU, there was widespread ridicule. With the reality star now out of the ITV2 villa, Hayley appeared on Daily Politics to be given a Brexit education via the BBC's Adam Fleming. 'I'm finding it really interesting,' she mused. Given the disagreement over the past few weeks about what a meaningful vote really means and what a backstop is, Mr S suspects that the number of people confused by the whole thing goes well beyond the Love Island cast.

It's summer party season in Westminster. Tonight it was the turn of Policy Exchange with the think tank securing a speech from Theresa May. In a buoyant mood after narrowly dodging a Tory rebellion on the EU withdrawal bill, the Prime Minister spoke about the need to respect the EU referendum result. However, May's speech was notable for two other reasons. Firstly in an apparent case of déjà vu the set began to dissolve around her – thanks to a gust of wind. Secondly, the Prime Minister used the opportunity to have a go at Michael Gove.

Theresa May has managed to surprise absolutely no-one this afternoon with her spokesman's confirmation that the Prime Minister has never smoked cannabis. Cue widespread jokes that May was too busy running through fields of wheat – the activity that May herself describes as the naughtiest thing she has ever done. Now not even May's colleagues can resist taking a pop at the boss's idea of fun. Ruth Davidson has intervened on Twitter after a user asked how many fields of wheat she had run through: That will go down well in No 10...

When the contestants of ITV2's Love Island discussed Brexit earlier this month, it led to widespread ridicule after one reality star – by the name of Hayley – suggested that Brexit could mean the UK no longer had any trees. However, should you be in the market for a slightly more informed political discussion on the hit reality show – in which contestants try and find love – you could be in luck. Last night, a 'government adviser' entered the villa. Step forward Zara McDermott.  In the past eight months, Zara has worked for the Department of Education under Damian Hinds, advising on policy. On entering villa, she said: 'I think I'm a catch. I'm definitely a catch.

When Sir Christopher Chope stopped to a bill to ban upskirting on Friday, he was denounced in the most vicious terms, as Steerpike revealed, by his fellow Tories. They were appalled by the optics of a 71-year-old Tory who rejected the bill without saying why. Sir Christopher has now come out swinging, saying how appalled he is that his fellow Tories assumed he was against the ban when he was – and remains – all for it. In fact, his main complaint is that it has taken the government so long to back a ban. Theresa May, he says, has 'a lot to answer for' in not banning upskirting until now. Chope says his problem was the way the Bill was being taken through parliament (via a Private Members Bill) with no debate rather than as a government bill with debate.

The day has finally come – it's Labour Live. The inaugural JezFest – first imagined as a follow-up to Jeremy Corbyn's Glastonbury appearance – has been beset by difficulties from slow ticket sales to failure to secure headline acts. Happily, thanks to some last minute giveaways, transport by Unite and price reduction, there are more people than first expected in the North London 15,000 capacity venue. 'Labour are for the many,' said Eddie Izzard as he told a half empty field of his recent hobby: learning Russian. Meanwhile, Len McCluskey found himself in the firing line in the peoples' Question Time with union members asking why he wasn't being more militant – and why there wasn't enough transport being provided for events.

Theresa May ends the week with a damaging rebellion – just not the one she expected. Sir Chritsopher Chope has set the cat among the pigeons after he shouted 'object!' to a private members' bill – brought to the House of Commons by Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse – to make ‘upskirting‘ a sexual offence. Given that the government had given the bill its full support, Chope's decision to block is particularly unhelpful. It's safe to say the Conservative MPs' behaviour has not gone down well on Tory MP WhatsApp. Chope's comrades are openly bitching about him – and asking if he is even on the thread: Richard Benyon: Is anyone getting flak about Chris Chope objecting to Voyeurism bill?

Jeremy Corbyn was given a taste of a Brexit rebellion last night when 90 of his MPs declined his suggestion of abstaining on the single market amendment and rebelled. Perhaps the most interesting aspect, however, was not who backed the amendment but the 15 Labour MPs who rebelled to vote against it. One such MP – Laura Smith – resigned as Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office to vote against remaining in the EEA. Explaining her reasons, she said she would always put her constituents in Crewe & Nantwich first: https://twitter.com/LauraSmithMP/status/1006974022343647232 So, it made for interesting viewing today when Smith was pitted against chief Labour Remain-er Polly Toynbee on the issue of honouring the referendum result: JC: Do you think Polly is part of the problem?